The Bike

A Human Powered Vehicle is a recumbent bicycle inside a streamlined fairing designed to reduce aerodynamic drag and potentially double the speed of a normal cyclist. Due to its high speed requirements, emphasis is put on safety requirements and efficient engineering to further improve and achieve our ultimate aim.

Below are the different aspects involved with our Human Powered Vehicle.

Electronics

A recumbent position means compromise on visibility. With the legs and chassis in the way, we have opted to go with a camera system to provide our rider the necessary vision to be safe and stable at high speed. Compromising of two separate analogue systems, the cameras are two high quality spy cameras chosen for its compact size. These cameras are linked to two 7” screens at the handlebars along with GARMIN bike computer. Stay tuned as we develop a digital system capable of gathering data for detailed analysis of our bike’s performance

Biomechanics

Our rider is our engine. Although the laid back position is not the most optimal for a cyclist, the recumbent position provide higher aerodynamic advantages. A lot of time is spent collecting data and analysing through our power model to ensure that the rider’s power output correlates with the predicted speed. The power model incorporates the aerodynamic drag, drive train efficiency, coefficient of rolling resistance of the tyres, inclination of the track and other environmental factors to predict what is required off our rider to achieve our target speeds. Through thorough understanding of our bike and our rider it is possible for us identify the areas of improvement required and target them to progress towards our ultimate aim.

Chassis

Our first iteration of the bike consisted of an aluminium, straight line chassis. Emphasis was put to ensure rider safety in the event of a crash with the addition of a roll bar. The initial design process of the bike included the design through SolidWorks and finite element analysis through ANSYS to simulate crash loads. Once designed, majority of the frame was built in house at Monash University using the amazing facilities available to us.

Drive Train

To achieve high speeds, a four stage drive train system is required. The Drive train team is tasked with the complex task of gearing for maximum speed but also allow the rider to be stable at low speeds. A massive 81 tooth chain ring is required to achieve speed of the current world record. With very little room inside the bike, we are looking to move to a front wheel drive system for our next bike.

Aerodynamics

For us Aerodynamics is everything! From the seating position to the shape of the camera holder, everything is designed to be the most aerodynamic and create the least drag. The fibreglass fairing is initially designed and tested on ANSYS CFD software. Through iterations, the design was optimised and scale model testing was conducted to verify the wind tunnel results. Once manufactured we have the opportunity to test our final fairing in the Monash University Wind tunnel. Surrounded by experts in fluid mechanics and wind tunnel staff, our team is in the prime location to make huge strides in aerodynamic efficiency.